History of BP Car Washes
This page takes a look at the history of BP Car Washes in New Zealand from the mid-90's to today. We'll take a look at which machines were installed, what brushes they have and how many of them are still in operation today. BP probabaly has one of the simplest histories of car washes in NZ, opting mostly for Washtec machines over the last 15-20 years. Ryko Ultraclean (Early 1990's) Like pretty much everyone in New Zealand, BP installed 5-brush Ryko machines throughout the 1990's, which includes the Ryko Ultraclean. These machines were fitted with two-tone green brushes, with either a striped or checkered pattern. All of these were fitted with on-board Dryers. Very few, if any, of these machines are left at BP sites. Greymouth.png Ryko Premier XL (Mid-Late 1990's) BP switched to the new Ryko Premier XL, which is an updated version of the Ultraclean in the mid-late 90's. These machines used the same brushes as the Ultraclean's also. All of these were fitted with on-board Dryers. There are still a select for of these machines around, usually found in small towns, however most of these have been replaced. PahiatuaPXL.png PremeirXL2-NPE.png PremeirXL1.png Ryko Excel (early 2000's???) Sometime around the early 2000's-ish, one BP site (in Kerikeri), installed a Ryko Excel. This was Ryko's new 3-brush machine designed for the European market. This car wash had a green frame with green & yellow striped brushes. This is the only example of a BP with a Ryko Excel I have found, and the machine has sadly been replace with a secondhand Washtec CK30. KereiKeri.png Washtec CK30 (2000's) Throughout the 2000's, BP's machine of choice was the Washtec CK30, a traditional 3-brush machine. These has 3-colour green, yellow & purple brushes, which were fairly standard for BP's worldwide during this time. One exception to this was a machine in Napier, which two-tone Blue brushes, however this machine has since been replaced. There used to be loads of these machines around, but now there are very few left. Most of the surviving ones are actually ones that were used to replace old Ryko's, and were not original to their locations. Mana1.jpg WainuiGoogle.png Kapiti1BP.jpg PoriruaGoogle.png JVilleGoogle.png UHutt1.jpg Napier1.jpg Napier2.jpg Washtec SoftCare Evo (mid-late 2000's) The Evo is a modified version of the SoftCare which has the brushes configured the opposite way around from the standard model. A number of these have been installed at BP's, but not as many as the standard SoftCare. These were all fitted with two-tone green striped brushes. Most of these a a bit old now, and therefore they are starting to be replaced. BP does not appear to be installing the Evo at present. Masterton1bp.jpg Masterton2BP.jpg Evo-3.png Evo-1.png Evo-2.png NPlymouth2.png Levin-2.png Washtec SoftCare Juno (mid 2000's-2016) The SoftCare Juno is a somewhat odd machine, in that is has two top-brushes and two dryer's. The Juno was BP's next machine of choice. Some of the older ones were originally installed with the same brush colours as the CK30's and later re-brushed with the new two-tone green striped brushes. A few other units were installed much later, and had the striped brushes from new. One unit has been installed as recently as 2016-17. Taupo1.jpg CityGoogle.png Wellington1.jpg Taupo2.jpg Juno-1.png Juno-2.png Juno-3.png|Newer machine from 2016/17. Washtec SoftCare (2008-Present) The Washtec SoftCare is the most common type of Car wash at BP's in NZ. These machines are everywhere, and have been BP's most popular choice since 2008. These are always installed with two-tone green striped brushes, with the exception of a few units from 2013 which for some odd reason used the old green/yellow/purple brush pattern. BP still installed these. DSCN8236.JPG Porirua1BP.jpg Porirua2BP.jpg DSCN7474.JPG Jville2bp.jpg LowerHutt.jpg DSCN7021.JPG Greymouth2019.png SoftCareOdd-1.png|Possible expirimental brush colours in Auckland installed in 2015, but replaced with usual stripes by 2017. Kapiti4.jpg Kapiti5.jpg Washtec SoftCare'2' Pro (2018-Present) BP has recently started installed newer Washtec Softcare'2' Pro's, which have a grey-frame, LED displays, new wash features and an overall more modern look and feel. They still use the same two-tone green striped brushes. At least two of these have been installed, with more possibly coming in the future. NewSoftCare2.png NewSoftCare1.png NPlymouth3.png PDQ Laserwash 360 (Inherited from Caltex) There is one BP in Lower Hutt, Wellington, which has a PDQ Laserwash 360 touch-free car wash. This is because the site was purchased from Caltex in 2017, who has only recently installed the Laserwash. There was no point in replacing a 2-year-old machine, so BP kept it. LowerHuttFC1.png